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Oil Lamp Facts
There is no real
difference between an oil
lamp, and an oil candle.
Usually, if it has a shade
over the flame, it is called
an oil lamp, if the flame is
exposed, it's an oil candle.
Most oil candles are a
form of "bead" lamp. That
means the wick is held in
place simply by forcing it
through a small hole. Friction
holds it in place. Some lamps
actually use just a small
round bead to hold the wick.
Oil Lamps provide
decorative lighting
touches. Regardless of what
Abe Lincoln did, you really
don't want to do your homework
by one. Abe didn't care that
his ceiling turned black from
the high flame needed to
produce useful light, you
probably do.
Lamp oil
 That brings
us to a word about lamp oil.
The word really is three words
"buy the best". Lamp Oil isn't
just kerosene. Maybe it used
to be, but the smell and soot
would be a little hard to live
with today.
Quality lamp
oil, or liquid paraffin, is
highly refined and virtually
odorless and smokeless.
(Remember to keep the flame
small to prevent smoking).
We sell a lot
of colored, as well as clear
oil, however, we do not sell
scented lamp oil because,
you can't scent a room with
lamp oil.
Candles, and
potpourri, throw lots of scent
into a room because they have
a large surface area in
contact with the air. For
example, as a votive candle
burns it creates a large pool
of hot wax that throws
off scent. That is what makes
a votive such a good choice
for a quick scenting of any
room. Wax potpourri is even
better as the flame is below
the warm fragrance oil.
Lamp oil is
really only in contact with
room air at the wick. When the
lamp is lit, what little
perfume may be at the wick, is
destroyed by the flame.
Scented oil
smells good in the bottle when
you take a whiff, but the only
time you smell it in the room
is for the few minutes after
you blow out the lamp and the
wick is still warm. You will
find a lot of scented oil on
the market at very low prices
as it is much less expensive
to add fragrance to cover up
the kerosene odor in cheap
lamp oil than it is to further
refine the oil to eliminate
all odor. Always look for the
words Ultra-pure on any lamp
oil you buy as it insures the
highest grade of refining, and
the most odorless and soot
less burning
Buy colored
lamp oil for color if you are
going to put it in a clear
lamp and want a certain look.
If you can't see the oil in
your lamp, always buy clear.
Wicks tend to last longer with
clear oil as the colors may
clog certain types of wicks
with extended use.
All the Oils
we sell are UltraPure®
99% liquid paraffin.
Wicks
A properly
adjusted wick produces a flame
approximately the size and
intensity of a candle. The
flame size is adjusted by
raising or lowering the wick
ion its holder. Be careful not
to let any part of the wick,
including threads of frays,
protrude to far from the top
of the lamp or it may produce
smoke.
There are two
materials commonly used for
wicks today, cotton, and
fiberglass. In theory both
should last a long time.
Remember, it isn't the wick
that is burning, it's the oil.
In reality,
wicks don't last forever. You
can improve wick life in
several ways.
-
Don't let the lamp burn
dry. If a lamp runs out of
oil to burn, you start
burning the wick.
-
Use clear UltraPure®
oil. Colored oil can reduce
wick life.
-
If you have a choice,
use fiberglass replacements
wicks. They do last longer
than cotton in normal use.
We carry many replacement
wicks, drop us a line if you
need some. We stock factory
replacement wicks and wick
holders for Wolfard and
Firelight lamps. We sell the
Wolfard replacement online,
but I'm afraid there are so
many different replacements
for Firelight, and you should
use the one designed for your
lamp, that you will have to
Email us, or call our 800
number to order those.
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